Puna Man Arrested and Charged with 11 Offenses

A Puna man has been charged with 11 offenses, including five felonies after being stopped by police for driving a suspicious vehicle.

At 12:45 p.m. on Tuesday, Puna Patrol officers stopped 21-year-old Isaac Rosa of Mountain View for driving a pickup truck with no rear license plate on Ihope Road in Mountain View.  The vehicle was also determined to have no VIN number.  Rosa was arrested on suspicion of altering the vehicle’s serial number and taken to the Hilo police cellblock.

Following an investigation, officers revealed that the truck had been stolen during a burglary in a warehouse on Stainback Highway sometime between Feb. 5 and Feb. 6.  Rosa was determined to be an accomplice in a burglary at another warehouse on Wiliama Street in Kea‘au on March 24, during which a sedan was stolen.  Later that day, the stolen sedan was used in the theft of the pickup on Kūkūau Street in Hilo.

Investigators also determined that Rosa was responsible for the theft of a John Deere ATV on March 18 in Honomū.

Police were able to recover all three stolen vehicles.

On Thursday, Rosa was charged with three counts of unauthorized control of a propelled vehicle and one count each of second-degree burglary, accomplice to first-degree theft, second-degree criminal property damage, accomplice to fourth-degree criminal property damage, driving without a license, driving without insurance and altering a motor vehicle serial number. The accomplice to first-degree theft, a B felony, was increased from accomplice to second-degree theft because the theft occurred when Puna was under a disaster declaration.

Rosa’s bail was set at $16,755 and he remained at the Hilo cellblock pending his initial court appearance today, April 10.

Police are asking anyone with information on the March 24 warehouse burglary in Kea‘au, or the identity of the second suspect to call the department’s non-emergency line at 935-3311.  Those who wish to remain anonymous may call the islandwide Crime Stoppers number at 961-8300.